Non lucrative visa

Hi yes you can use your S1 to obtain health cover and your younger spouse can piggy back off it until they become eligible in their own right 

You can certainly use the S1 instead of private health insurance for your visa application and I believe that your wife can 'piggy back' on your S1 too - but I don't know for sure, so you may be best to contact the consulate in advance to check. If you do need to get private health insurance for your wife, do shop around as quotes differ widely. I use Sanitas and I have also seen DKV recommended on this forum.

For your 'means of maintenance' (passive income), you need to be able to prove €37,000 per annum (approx. £32,000) joint income. This can be from pensions, savings, income from a rented property, shares, premium bonds. Remember that when you renew after the first year, you will need to prove double this amount, as this renewal covers years 2 & 3 - and then the same (double again) when you renew for years 4 &5. Obviously, you don't need to spend it (!) so money left after year 1 can contribute to years 2 & 3, etc. So, from what you have said, if you have a £12,000pa pension, you will need a minimum of £20,000 in savings, etc. for your NLV and then £40,000 for your renewal - and bear in mind the annual amount increases slightly each year.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for taking your time in explaining this for me , we have ample savings to cover this , can I ask about renewing after the first year and other years do you have to go through the same process and the same costings too, 

I have completed my year 1 renewal and will have my year 3 renewal in May this year - how time flies!

The year 1 renewal only needed the financials and the private health care  - no need for the medical cert or police certificate. The cost was only around €40.

I used a Spanish solicitor for everything as, even though I think I'm confident & competent in dealing with bureaucracy, forms, etc. I didn't want to risk making a mistake - especially as all the forms are in Spanish. She charged €1,200 for two people for the NLV and then charged €300 per person for the renewal. I would certainly reccomend her.

Again thank you for your help , it is much ap